Moore Matters Spring 2014 by Moore Theological College

moorematters spring 2014 moore.edu.au

From the Principal page 3 Global Mission page 4 A world in turmoil page 6 Moore College Sunday page 9

Moore Community

Vale Tim Hanley Tim Hanley worked for the College as a chef for the past 11+ years. About 6 years ago Tim was diagnosed with a Blastoma brain tumour. He recovered from this but unfortunately the cancer returned around 6 months ago. These past 6 months were difficult to endure as he developed pneumonia, recovered, and then developed a clot in his lung. Tim passed away in his sleep on Tuesday 1st July 2014. He is now with the Lord where he has no more pain or suffering. Tim was married to Naomi and they have 4 young boys—Sebastian, Morgan, Elliot and Tristan. Please uphold them in your prayers. Pray especially that Tim’s family would know our loving Father’s arms wrapped around them and be strengthened and comforted by God walking every step of the way with them. Tim will be missed at the College as he always had a positive attitude and would often have a smile on his face. Tim enjoyed serving the students and getting to know them. His continued faith was an encouragement to us all. From Psalm 91, ‘Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” ... He will cover you with his feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.’ Warren Darwall Head Chef 2

We’ve moved In preparation for the proposed new building, our main library and administration site at 1 King Street Newtown has been completely vacated and the various departments are now located at the following addresses:

• 19 King Street

Reception, Principal and Executive, Registrar’s Department and Accommodation Manager

• 21 King Street

Moore College Distance (formerly External Studies)

• 27 & 29 King Street

(entry via Little Queen Street) Property, Finance, Information Services, Marketing and Fundraising Departments, as well as some faculty

• 93 King Street (upstairs) Library and Bookshop

These moves have been a massive undertaking and all congratulations go to the Property and Maintenance team who have created excellent working spaces for everyone, as well as to John Downward (Operations Manager) and all staff who made the move as painless as possible. For further information, please call Louise or Jackie at Reception on +61 2 9577 9999. MOORE MATTERS SPRING 2014

From the Principal

A Big Vision of Gospel Opportunity Dr Mark Thompson

here has never been a time with a greater need for gospel workers than the present moment. The world’s population is immense and the number of people in it who do not know Christ is staggering. I regularly get calls for help from people in this city, in other parts of Australia and around the world. There are more opportunities for gospel ministry than we can possibly meet. We live in a city of more than four and a half million people with only a tiny fraction of that number gathering as God’s people from week to week. If we are going to reach the others, we need more people involved in Christian ministry in this city, not fewer. We need men and women who recognise that ministry in this city is inevitably cross-cultural ministry and who are prepared to equip themselves properly to reach the nations that have come to live here. Throughout Australia there are places where the need for gospel ministry has gone unmet for years. There are churches without pastors, MOORE MATTERS SPRING 2014

go to Asia, to Africa, to Europe and to communities without evangelists, and America with the only true message of men and women without Christ. We need more people to give themselves to life and hope. We need a big vision of gospel the demanding work of rural ministry opportunity that is not limited to in Australia. Life on the land is hard a particular type of ministry, or a and its pressures very different from particular place, but is big enough those experienced in the cities. Yet the to reach the world. Moore College gospel of Christ is needed every bit as has always been committed to gospel much there as in the cities. mission and ministry. Men and women Around the world the need is have gone out from our College to all greater than it ever has been. In the parts of the world and they have made late eighteenth and early nineteenth a tremendous difference. century, a new appreciation of the Of course there are gospel led to an explosion in world Throughout new challenges in mission. Those who had come Australia there are a new century to know God were passionate places where the that our forebears about others coming to know need for gospel could hardly him too. They knew this could have imagined. A only happen as people heard and ministry has gone unmet for thorough training believed the gospel of Christ years. in the Bible, in crucified and risen, and theology and in so they set themselves the ministry—the kind of task of reaching the world for Christ. Two hundred and fifty years later, there training Moore College is committed to providing—is essential. But two great are still people who have never heard, truths remain unchanged: Christ is the and other parts of the world where only saviour and he has called us to the gospel has receded rather than take the gospel to the world. advanced. We need more people to 3

Global Mission

Spheres of ministry – far wider than Sydney Peter Tasker

s a young adult attending a Sydney Anglican Parish I really felt constrained to seriously consider being a missionary. Student Ministers encouraged me and consistently stressed the need for being well trained theologically. So I applied to Moore and was accepted for the then three year course. Around the end of second year we were informed that a fourth year program had started and that it was assumed we would be doing it! It seemed to me at the time that the then Principal had no real heart for missions because he was holding me back from getting out there and starting gospel outreach! Soon after College I married Joan and worked as an assistant minister.

Strong theological training is not only needed for those who will teach theology.

CMS then said we needed to go to study at St Andrew’s Hall for a year! We finally found ourselves in Penang, and after a short time I was the Vicar of St Georges Church. I very quickly became very thankful to the Lord for the training that I had been, sometimes reluctantly, strongly encouraged to do. I realised, once in Penang, how important it was to have a firm Biblical foundation. I found myself needing not only to teach and pastor others but also my family and myself. Also the spheres of ministry I quickly became involved in were far wider than in Sydney. Over the last twelve years I have had the privilege of visiting overseas church leaders on behalf of Sydney Diocese. This has also meant spending time with many missionaries. Almost all the church leaders have heard of Moore College and see it as a place where God’s Word is clearly taught. They all tell me that their greatest need is to ensure that their clergy and laity are well grounded in scripture. Education standards are increasing and so

is the need to train nationals to be effective teachers and lecturers at all levels of theological education. Strong theological training is not only needed for those who will teach theology. No matter what role a missionary has, the need for a strong theological foundation remains true. All will be members of a local church and will quickly find that they are amongst the most educated people in the church. Church members will look to see how a mature Christian behaves and lives out their Christian faith under all circumstances. What contributions can be made to the teaching of God’s Word and the level of mature pastoral care! It is not easy to go back to the beginning of your training again! I am thankful to the Lord that I trained when others decided what I would do! I have spent time with clergy and missionaries who thought that minimal theological training was all they needed, and seeing the results, not only for them but also for those for whom they were pastorally responsible, often saddens me. Bishop Peter Tasker Archbishop of Sydney’s Bishop for International Relations MOORE MATTERS SPRING 2014

Alumni: Where are they now?

CMS Missionary in Munich

Michael Clark BD DipMin 2004

he further I’ve moved away from Sydney and from my time at Moore College, the more I’ve grown to appreciate what a profound blessing it was to spend four years being both grounded in sound Biblical truth and taught to think theologically, so as to apply that knowledge in various contexts. Since February 2012 I’ve been serving together with my wife, Caroline, and four children (Tom, Ben, Joel and Abigail) as CMS missionaries in Munich, primarily in theological education and leader training. Most Germans think of Munich as a city that has it all. Grand buildings, a lovely location near the Alps, the world’s best engineers, prosperity, jobs, and now a World Championship to boot (well over half the national team plays for Bayern München). In fact, my neighbour’s favourite catch-phrase whenever the sun shines (so that’s about 15 times a year) is ‘This is Paradise, Herr Clark!’ And yet Munich’s wealth and success masks a deep poverty in the one thing that matters most: the ministry of God’s word. Nominally Catholic, the city was once a bastion of the Counter-Reformation, which meant that Luther’s great re-discovery of God’s free gift of Salvation never quite arrived here. Protestant martyrs were driven out or burned in the centre of town and the city officially celebrated the departure of the last Protestant in 1632. While these events occurred centuries ago and the city has changed enormously in the last 50 years with the influx of many Muslims, their legacy lives on, so that when we celebrated the opening of the Martin Bucer Seminar (MBS), Munich, just two years ago, we were the first (ever?) Bible-based training programme for the state of Bavaria—Germany’s MOORE MATTERS SPRING 2014

largest with more than 12 million inhabitants. What is the Martin Bucer Seminar? Please don’t think Moore College—we’re neither large nor impressive. In fact MBS, Munich, looks a lot like me (neither…). We’re one of a network of 14 small training centres (in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Turkey and Brazil), which seek to provide an alternative to the (Liberal) education on offer in the Universities. Here in Munich we offer a series of Saturday lectures, which are open to the general public, with our seven enrolled students working through a set curriculum towards a Bachelors or Masters Degree (typically parttime) at their own pace. While our time in Germany so far has not been without its challenges—a new language and school system for the kids spring to mind—and it’s still very early days, we’ve been greatly encouraged by the quality of those the Lord has brought to study with us and their hunger for His Word. Some students regularly travel over an hour-and-a-half each way to be with us on Saturdays. It’s a privilege to be involved in Gospel ministry here in Munich and we dare to pray that through our labours, the Lord might raise up a generation of Gospel workers for his Harvest. 5

Feature article

A world in turmoil Dr Mark Thompson

Christian who is overwhelmed by the sheer scale of what is happening and the beginning of a conversation with those who do not know Christ but who, like the rest of us, long for answers.

1. Do not be surprised. The popular myth of human selfimprovement stands in stark contrast to the realism of the Bible. Jesus spoke of the end-times not as ‘onward and upward’ but as a period of turmoil and betrayal and pain and suffering. Not every minute. No. But again and again and again.

astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. (Matthew 24:6–12)

Do not be surprised. This is where the decision to live apart from God, to supress the truth in unrighteousness, to set myself up as the arbiter of good and evil, truth and falsehood, inevitably leads. That doesn’t make it any less appalling and terrifying. Yet this is the direction in which a world that will not have its Maker will always head. God is love. To head away from him cannot help but lead to an explosion of the opposite. And that is why judgement must come.

And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All of these are but the beginning of the birth pains. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many

Northfoto / Shutterstock.com

error and human brutality once more fill our television screens and are splashed upon the front pages of the print media. What is unfolding in Syria and northern Iraq is sickening and the thought that we human beings could still be doing this to one another—in the twenty-first century!—should put to rest any suggestion that we are on an upward trajectory. Torture, rape, mass crucifixions, murder of the most gruesome kind—and all of this happening in yet another grab for power and control, cloaked in the language of religion. For all our scientific knowledge and technological sophistication, we have been unable to stem the tide of human cruelty and human suffering. Words like ISIS and Al-Qaeda take their place alongside Stalinist purge, Nazi holocaust, the Inquisition and the Vandals. How as Christians do we process what we are seeing and hearing? How can we respond in a thoughtful and coherent way? Do we have anything to say in the face of such unspeakable horror? What perspective does the biblical gospel give us on these events? Let me suggest three ‘starters’. They’re not definitive answers. There is so much more to say. But these three starters can be a beginning for the

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Feature article 2. Do not be afraid. God has not lost control of the world. He cannot be defeated or deflected by the concentrated evil of his creatures. The cross itself is the ultimate testimony of this. When God himself was the target for human cruelty, when the one truly innocent man was rejected by Jew and Gentile alike, when they took the chance to murder the one who stilled the storm, healed the sick, banished the demons, fed the hungry, brought hope to the hopeless and forgiveness to the sinner, God was not defeated. They killed him—in the cruellest way they could think of, in what they thought was the ultimate show of power and an unchallengable victory—but God raised him up, because it was not possible for him to be held by death (Acts 2:24). It really did look as if he had lost when his torn body was taken down from the cross and buried. It really did seem as if it was all over. His enemies had won. They said they’d bury him and they did. And yet not for a moment had God’s enemies taken control of history. Not for a moment had they overturned God’s determination for justice and faith and salvation. Jesus travelled the way of suffering to glory for our sake and, as the apostle Paul said, being bound up with him, being fellow heirs with him, involves suffering with him in order that we may also be glorified with him (Romans 8:17). Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, MOORE MATTERS SPRING 2014

or nakedness, or danger, or sword? A narrow focus on the now is As it is written, ‘For your sake we are endemic in our world and increasingly being killed all the day long; we are in the churches as well. It (whatever regarded as sheep to be slaughtered’. ‘it’ is) is not worth it if it doesn’t make No, in all these things we are more a tangible difference now. And yet than conquerors through him that is not the perspective who loved us. For I am sure we find in Paul, or God has that neither death nor life, Peter, or John or not lost control nor things to come, nor the writer to the of the world. He powers, nor height nor Hebrews. There cannot be defeated depth, nor anything else is a hope laid up in all creation, will be able or deflected by the for us in heaven concentrated evil to separate us from the (Colossians 1:5). of his creatures. love of God in Christ The only solution to Jesus our Lord. the ongoing problem (Romans 8:35–39) of human violence and all

3. Do not lose hope. The great reconciliation, the great putting of all things in their proper place, where God and his people are vindicated and everyone who has raised their hand against the Messiah and his people will face his wrath, is certain but it is not yet. We are those who wait in hope for the day which God has fixed when he will judge the world with righteousness (Acts 17:31). We do not expect to be vindicated now but know that we will be vindicated then. Our experience of suffering in the present makes us long all the more intensely for the day when every tear will be wiped away and there will be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying, nor pain (Revelation 21:4). The great Christian triumvirate is faith and love and hope. Paul could say ‘I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us’ (Romans 8:18).

that motivates it in the human heart is the day of the Lord when the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed (2 Peter 3:10). The genuine horror of the events in Iraq and Syria and many other places cannot and should not be explained away, even for a moment. It ought to make us cry out ‘How Long O Lord!’ We ought to do, and urge others to do, all we can to alleviate the suffering and protect those who are in danger. We ought not to resign ourselves to the inevitability of evil by any means. But we ought to pray that the day would soon come when war and cruelty and sin with all its consequences will be gone forever, and when every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10–11). It is no wonder that the Book of Revelation, which exposes what really is going on behind the scenes of human history, should end with the cry ‘Come Lord Jesus!’ (Revelation 22:20). 7

Faculty Q & A

Ed Loane

Lectures in Theology and Church History Who’s in your family? I’m married to Jocelyn and we have four children—Jemima (8), Sophie (6), Ben (4) and Sam (4).

What story does your family always tell about you? At the moment my children tell the story of how I won some heaters on Wheel of Fortune a long time ago and we are still using them to keep warm.

Describe your ideal day. My ideal day would be a Sunday where we sleep in a little later than usual and Joc and I have a coffee on the sofa. We then head off as a family to church which is followed by a long lunch with friends. Maybe then I’d have a nap before heading back to church in the evening. After that, Joc and I would watch Escape to the Country before bed. In fact, that is what most Sundays look like!

You spent some time as an Aid Worker in Cambodia. How did that impact you as a Christian? I learnt so many things in Cambodia. Our time there affirmed for me the 8

I pray that this might lead students to have a greater love for Jesus and desire to preach the gospel to a lost world.

insidious and destructive nature of sin but it also confirmed for me God’s sovereignty and his gracious work of calling people to himself from every nation, tribe, people and tongue. I was also struck by the fact that, although the gospel of Jesus is the only way of salvation for all, apologetics often needs to be sympathetic to cultural assumptions.

Why did you go to Cambridge and how did your time there help you grow in your knowledge and love of God? I went to Cambridge to research for a doctorate and to minister in the Church of England. I was encouraged to see people contending for the faith, whether it was academics at Tyndale House, undergraduates in the CU of my college, or other Christians in our village. We were privileged to be part of a vibrant village church which kept pointing us to Jesus and his word. We have also seen God answer many prayers over the last few years.

Under God, what do you hope to achieve as a lecturer at Moore College? I hope that God will use me to bring the students at Moore a greater understanding of his grace and a better understanding of how Christians have lived out their faith through the ages. I pray that this might lead students to have a greater love for Jesus and desire to preach the gospel to a lost world.

How can we pray for you and your family as you settle in to life at Moore? Give thanks to God for his wonderful provision for us over the last several years in Cambridge and his care for us as we’ve moved back to Australia. Pray that as a family we will grow in our love for Jesus and obedience to him. Also pray that we will be an encouragement to the Christians around us, at college and at church. MOORE MATTERS SPRING 2014

Moore College Sunday m o o r e c o l l e g e s u n d ay

august

MOORE COLLEGE SUNDAY Moore College and Churches: Gospel Partners On August 3rd this year we celebrated Moore College Sunday (MCS). MCS is a great opportunity to remind the college and our churches all over Sydney, Australia and the world of the partnership we share in making the name of Jesus known to all nations. This partnership and work of proclaiming Christ is something that we are truly in together. It is only as our churches continue in faithfully sharing Jesus and growing their people that the next generation of gospel workers are sent to Moore College. In turn, Moore College is committed to teaching and training these workers to equip them for a lifetime of ministry. It is these graduates who are then sent back to our churches, universities, work places and mission fields. It is a great joy to hear of the places

that God is sending people each year. That is why our central theme for MCS in 2014 was prayer. As a college we are committed to praying for the ministry work that God is doing all over the world. We also want others to be praying for our college. The work that is being done here at college is a result of Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grace and therefore requires our dependence on him in prayer. The partnership we have, therefore, is primarily one of prayer. Together we participate in the task of praying to our heavenly Father to use us in ways which will most honour his Son. Will you join us in this task? (To sign up to receive monthly prayer points and a quarterly e-bulletin visit: moore.edu.au/prayerlist or email: prayer-join@lists.moore.edu.au.) Mike Leite Third Year Student and MCS Chair

Photo supplied by Brett Hall. Peter Bolt attended Rosemeadow-Appin Anglican Churches as Guest Preacher for their MCS. Seen here with some of the local church members.

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Faculty Q & A

Will Timmins Lectures in New Testament 1. Where did you grow up? I was born in Slough, a town in the south east of England, not far from London. I grew up very close to there in a county called Buckinghamshire. If you have heard of Slough it is probably from John Betjeman’s famous poem, which begins with the immortal lines, “Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough! It isn’t fit for humans now.” More recently, Ricky Gervais’ TV series ‘The Office’ was set there. Buckinghamshire, on the other hand, is a lovely place of villages and green rolling hills: quintessential England. I grew up in a large village in Buckinghamshire on the edge of the countryside, so I am a country boy at heart.

2. How has your life changed in recent months? It has changed quite a lot in recent months! A number of things that I had been working and praying towards came together at roughly the same time. In February I married the lovely Lizzy, who was a member of the same church in Cambridge (Christchurch). For the last three years Lizzy had been working in Cambridge as a research Oncologist, and she hopes to continue to do some medical work here in 10

Sydney. In June I submitted a PhD on Romans 7, which I had been working on for the last few years, and then a couple of days later I was on a plane to Sydney to start life at Moore. Getting married, finishing a PhD, moving countries and starting a new job—all within the space of a few months—has added up to a pretty exhausting time, but all of these things are good gifts from the Lord.

3.Describe your ideal day off. My ideal day off would start with a hearty breakfast of poached eggs and bacon. That would give me the necessary energy for a long day of One of my top hiking or—to use priorities is to help the term I have the students dig heard a bit more more deeply into the round here— Bible—which involves bushwalking. learning to think In the evening critically. I would enjoy a relaxing pub meal watching the sun go down, before heading home to listen to some good music. So, hearty breakfast, walk, pub, music, all enjoyed with Lizzy. But that combination is pretty rare, so any one or two of those would make a great day off! MOORE MATTERS SPRING 2014

Faculty Q & A 4. How and when did you become a Christian? I became a Christian in my teens after hearing the Gospel taught both at church and at meetings of my school Christian Union. After my parents divorced I went through a time of great sadness and listlessness, and was receptive to the hope offered in the Gospel. It was after my mother remarried that, as a family, we started attending a local church, since my mother and stepfather were themselves looking for answers to the various challenges posed by a large household of unruly children! I think they were looking for moral guidance, but instead they found Christ. As I also began to hear the good news about Jesus, God gave me a deep inner conviction that Jesus was my saviour and God.

5. How does your PhD help ministry now and in the future? I think it helps in a general way and in a more specific way. Generally, it has helped me to handle God’s Word with greater care and precision than I did before I started my research. My PhD is, basically, an indepth study of Romans 7. Because there are so many difficult and disputed matters of interpretation in Romans 7, I spent a lot of time assessing the validity of the different types of argument that people use. I also had to learn how to fit seemingly disparate pieces of evidence together into a coherent whole. Obviously those sorts of interpretive skills need to be applied to any passage in the Bible, so I hope I am better equipped to do that now. More specifically, and related to the subject matter of the thesis, I believe more strongly than ever in MOORE MATTERS SPRING 2014

humanity’s incapacity to do good and in the sufficiency and power of the Gospel of Christ for salvation.

6. What are your top priorities as a lecturer at Moore College? I am here as a servant of the Word of God and a servant of the people of God, so my top priorities are to serve God’s Word and to serve the college students faithfully. This means various things in practice, but I will mention just one. When students embark on a more academically rigorous study of the Bible they are often susceptible to two opposing dangers. One is to be so overwhelmed by the diversity of interpretive opinion that is out there, that one just clings more firmly to a form of tribal orthodoxy rather than critically engaging with the biblical text. The other is to put one’s new-found critical skills to good use but end up in a bad place, where the certainties of the Gospel have been replaced with the vagaries of academic fashion. One of my top priorities is to help the students dig more deeply into the Bible—which involves learning to think critically—in a way that strengthens, rather than dilutes, confidence in the glorious Gospel.

7. How can people pray for you? Please pray for us both that we would settle quickly into life here in Sydney and at Moore and, in the words of Heb 13:21, that our God would work in us what is pleasing in his sight and equip us with everything good for doing his will. Pray too that I would manage my time wisely, in a way that reflects the priorities and passions of the Lord. 11

Meet the Students

Heading to Cairns and Far North Queensland

Preparing for International Ministry

Peter Davies (Fourth Year) and Emma Davies (Second Year)

Simon Cowell (Third Year) & Jessica Cowell (Second Year)

On a hot summer’s day in January we completed the thousand kilometre journey south from Brisbane to Sydney with a car packed full of our belongings. The incredibly warm welcome we received minutes after parking the car was indicative of the fellowship we have enjoyed over the last three and a half years. While making the decision to move away from family was difficult, we have been ever thankful for our time at Moore. We weren’t sure of the direction of our ministry after College and so the most important decision for us was to choose an evangelical College which would give us a solid foundation for the years of ministry ahead. Moore Theological College was the perfect choice. The highlights of our college experience have been the excellent training, deep friendships, experiencing life in a godly community and the one-of-a-kind Sydney evangelical Christian culture. While we have enjoyed our time in Blues territory, our beloved Queensland has never been far from our hearts. During our years at College we became heavily involved in the establishment of the QLD Prayer Group. Through this, and connections with family, North Queensland became an area we are passionate about. This year we were thrilled to be part of a College Mission to Townsville! Currently we are in the final stages of securing a position with a Presbyterian Church in Cairns. Our hope is that through our presence at College, many more people will be encouraged to think about ministry in the Sunshine State!

We came to Moore College to prepare for a lifetime serving God. Although it meant taking further time out for study, we were (and still are!) confident that God would push us to think more deeply about the Bible and about him—which will be essential in whatever we do in the future. Our hope and prayer is that God might open the way for us to minister to university students in Italy. As in many parts of continental Europe, student ministry in Italy is still in many ways in its fledgling stages, and most Italians do not know Jesus personally. Ministry in a totally different culture and context is a massive challenge and there’s not really any way to work out all the answers in advance. But by knowing God better through our studies at Moore, we pray that he will equip us with the wisdom we need to guard our lives and doctrine closely, and communicate the gospel faithfully and effectively to Italians! In our few years at Moore so far, we have grown in our understanding of and familiarity with the Bible. We also have a much greater awareness of history and of the ways many people think about themselves and the world—all things that will be of great value in any future ministry. We’re incredibly thankful to God for our time to study here and for the blessing of doing so in a community of godly and committed peers. We’re glad we still have a little bit more of it to come!

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Being Moore Campaign

Building for the future I f you have ever trained at, worked at or visited Moore College at Newtown, you will know the serious inadequacies of our facilities:

the main

campus complex Currently Fundraising target of $20 million

• Insufficient room for Library items and personal study • Inadequate tutorial and teaching spaces • Inefficient working space for faculty • Inadequate space for the whole college community to assemble These issues are compounded by facilities with ageing electrical wiring, as well as safety, environment and access issues—all of which are cause for concern. Short-term ‘band-aid’ solutions to these problems would prove to be costly in the long-term and so, after much prayer, consideration and planning, the decision has been made to redevelop part of the Newtown site, including the building known as ‘the library’. The Being Moore capital campaign was Donations received launched in 2013 with a $20 million target. $13.8 million We praise God that through the generosity of our friends and supporters, over half that amount has been raised. Now we need a further $6.2 million to reach that target. As in all things, we rely on the goodness of our Heavenly Father, who has so generously provided for us. Please pray with us that this target will be reached and please give prayerful consideration to contributing to this campaign. To make a tax deductible donation towards the new building, please visit the Support page on our website at https://www.moore.edu.au/donate.

We currently only have 46 reflective study spaces in the library and 20 collaborative study spaces

222

We’re currently only able to store 60,000 items onsite

119,000

We currently only have two tutorial-sized teaching spaces

Our faculty is currently scattered all over campus

We currently have no room to seat over 300 people

reflective study spaces

100 collaborative study spaces

items onsite

additional 8 tutorial rooms

THEOLOGY

MISSION

Faculty brought together in one area

430 seat assembly hall

Vicki King MOORE MATTERS SPRING 2014

CHURCH HISTORY

STUDENTS

God in the World

Finding Your Place in God’s Global Mission at Moore 2015 applications are now open! Don’t be late. “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Are you being called to train and serve as a gospel worker to meet the mission needs of the Christian church globally? If you think the answer is definitely yes—or even maybe—we encourage you to find out by applying to study one of our courses. You can check out which course is for you by going to our website at moore.edu.au/courses. More than two-thirds of the world’s population is not yet Christian. If you want to be better equipped to spread the gospel to the world, the range of mission and ministry courses at Moore College is for you. Be equipped to love and serve God and people—it’s not too late; apply now for your journey beginning February 2015. There is no obligation in applying—an application can be 14

withdrawn or deferred at any stage. Potential students are welcome to make an appointment to visit the College at any time to discuss with a member of faculty your course options and how we can help you with your ministry goals. Appointments can be made through the Registrar’s office on phone +61 2 9577 9999 or email registrar@moore.edu.au. Or come to one of the Moore College Open Events. Open Event details are on the website at moore. edu.au/open or see the ad located on the back page of Moore Matters. Please note that we now have a due date for undergraduate course applications of 30 November 2014. Applications received after the application due date will attract an administration fee of $250. So it’s cheaper to apply now and ensure you secure a place. Apply now! Application forms are available on our website at moore.edu. au/apply. There’s a Global Mission preparation place for you at Moore. Apply now to secure your place for 2015. Mark Fairfull

Finding Your Place in God’s Mission

ission Awareness Week is an annual event—an entire week set aside in the Moore College calendar to actively focus on and promote the many opportunities available to serve God throughout the world. The aims of Mission Awareness Week are to increase our understanding of global gospel mission and to challenge students to think and pray about becoming missionaries. Representatives of numerous mission organisations are invited to visit the College during Mission Awareness Week, providing students with the opportunity for one-to-one discussion about the many ways of serving God beyond Sydney. Highlights of the week include hearing from missionaries and organisation representatives about their work in Australia and overseas,

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Spring Appeal

Vicki King MOORE MATTERS SPRING 2014

Eternal Significance ‘Sorry, I will only give for people’ is a phrase fundraisers often hear when appealing for financial support. This is understandable—giving for people has such a ‘feel good’ aspect. It’s tangible and personal and there’s a terrific sense of making a difference. And so it is with Moore College supporters who are most definitely giving for people. Their support is tangible and personal and makes a significant difference. When you support our new building campaign you are giving for people, by providing a building where the College can efficiently and effectively train and equip men and women for a lifetime of Christian ministry. When you support our operational campaigns you are giving for people by providing our students with world-class lecturers, and access to a well-resourced library and suitably maintained environments to live and study in. Moore College is about people— people like you and me who have been saved because someone taught us about Jesus. It’s about today’s disciples of Christ equipping and building up

other disciples, so that God’s word continues to spread. It’s about people who have yet to hear the good news of Jesus Christ and the men and women training to take that good news to them wherever in the world they might be. We need people who will partner with us in prayer and financial support to help build up the body of welltrained Christian pastors, missionaries, teachers and chaplains who will teach people about Jesus, nurture Christians in their faith and bring the hope of salvation to those who are lost. Will you join us in this ministry to people? If you are not yet a partner, I urge you to give prayerful consideration to becoming one—to help Moore College train the next generation of Christian leaders. Will you partner with us in this work of eternal significance, as we train people for the most important work possible—saving and changing lives, under God, all over the world? Will you help by praying for us and supporting us financially as we seek to serve God in growing his kingdom?

Vicki King FOUNDATION MANAGER 02 9577 9798 Victoria.king@moore.edu.au 15

Spring Appeal

as well as the chapel services and seminars focussing on mission. Of course it wouldn’t be Mission Awareness Week at Moore College without the delicious international lunches served by the College’s talented kitchen staff! This year, the focus of Mission Awareness Week was ’Finding Your Place in God’s Mission’. While Mission Awareness Week is a specific time set aside to focus on mission, Moore College has an ongoing commitment to the work of the gospel around the world. The whole College prays regularly in chapel for Christian mission, both in Australia and overseas; there are weekly Mission and Ministry hours, where students are made aware of mission opportunities through guest speakers who increase our understanding of God’s global work; and we are regularly visited by Christians from around the world who share with us their experiences of gospel ministry in their own countries. God has been pleased to send significant numbers of Moore College graduates out from Sydney and into the mission field. We are thankful that we can serve him by equipping men and women well for his service here in Sydney and all over the world. We continue to pray that Moore College students will seek to serve the Lord in growing his kingdom wherever in the world he sends them.

My Moore Gift We ask YOU to please actively support Moore to ensure that together we can continue this vital gospel work under God, for His eternal glory. Your gift will be a personal investment in future generations of gospel workers. N.B. All donations to Moore College are fully tax deductible. Title

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Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Easy to Donate

Return this form to Moore College by mail (1 King Street, Newtown NSW 2042)

2 Visit our website www.moore.edu.au/donate 3 Direct Deposit (Please include your name in the description box)

Bank Westpac Name Moore Theological College BSB 032 016 Account 293828

Call Vicki King on 02 9577 9798

Moore Matters is the newsletter publication of Moore Theological College Principal of Moore College Rev Dr Mark Thompson Editor Vicki King Associate Editor Mark Fairfull Proof reader Alison Woof Art and Design Joy Lankshear About Moore College Moore College prepares men and women for a lifetime of ministry and mission through in-depth theological training. Today 600 students are enrolled in courses at Moore. Currently around 5,000 people in over 50 countries are studying by distance education. The College has trained thousands of men and women for a great variety of Christian ministries locally, nationally and around the globe. Moore is world renowned for its faithfulness to the word of God, the excellence of the education it provides and the effectiveness of its graduates. Moore Matters Copyright ÂŠ Moore Theological College 2014 1 King Street, Newtown NSW 2042 AUSTRALIA moore.edu.au | info@moore.edu.au | +61 2 9577 9999 CRICOS #00682B / ABN 47 46 452183

Cover:

Steve Maina, National Director of CMS-NZ, was the Guest Preacher during Mission Awareness Week.

moorematters spring 2014 moore.edu.au

From the Principal page 3 Global Mission page 4 A world in turmoil page 6 Moore College Sunday page 9

Face to Face with the message of Matthew School of Theology – 10 and 11 September 2014

t this year’s School of Theology, which is open to all, we will be looking at the Gospel of Matthew. As part of the preparation for these annual events, those giving papers present them to each other in advance. As the Matthew papers have been discussed together an interest has emerged in the part Matthew plays in God’s revelation of himself. What do we learn about Jesus amongst first century Israel and then amongst the nations? How does he fulfill Israel’s history and the OT scriptures? What does his coming say about and to our world? During the event we will hear about the impact preaching Matthew has had on one congregation, and not only hear a paper about Matthew’s portrayal of Jesus’ death, but also reflect on Bach’s musical rendition of that event at the centre of history. It will be a wonderful two days together around God’s word. Let’s pray that God himself brings us his good things as we gather for this event.

Invite your church members, family and friends to come along!

OPEN NIGHT

The Commentary:

Monday 1st September, 7:45 pm – 9:15 pm

In a happy co-incidence with the topic of our School of Theology, Peter Bolt’s new commentary on Matthew will be published this coming September. Under the general editorship of Paul Barnett, the local series of commentaries of which it is a part aims at the pastor and general reader. Peter Bolt has written Matthew: A Great Light Dawns in the hope that readers will be engaged with the famously loved First Gospel, fall in love with Jesus all over again, and see themselves in the midst of our Heavenly Father’s great plans for his world.

OPEN WEEK

Monday 1st September – Friday 5th September

OPEN DAY

Saturday 27th September, 9:30 am – 2:30 pm For more information or to arrange your visit, please call (02) 9577 9928 or email openevents@moore.edu.au

To register go to: moore.edu.au/sot

moore.edu.au • +61 2 9577 9999